Scraping Reddit for Investment Research

“Games are won by players who focus on the playing field, not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard.” 

- Warren Buffett

But what if the game is all about staring at the scoreboard? 

Or predicting how and when the scoreboard will change?

Well, this looks like a web scraping game. 

Reddit is a hub for all things internet. No matter what you are looking for, there will be a Subreddit for it. 

And Stock Trading? 

Well, there is a Reddit page for that as well. 

Hello WallStreetBets Subreddit, a page with almost 9 million members, generating more than 30,582 comments on a daily basis. The WallStreetBets is one of the most famous and most visited pages across Reddit. 

So if you are looking to scrape Reddit for some investment insights, this is the place to start. 

How does it work?

Reddit is a place for discussion and exchanging ideas. People from all over the internet gather on various Subreddits of their choice to share opinions and indulge in conversation.

WallStreetBets is no different. 

It has many daily posts on various topics related to stock, trading and investing. Among these, some posts are called DD, which stands for Due Diligence. These posts aim to research a specific stock or group before making an investment. 

As people continuously interact with different posts on the page, they generate a lot of data. By upvoting or downvoting a post, they are essentially making their sentiment known and influencing those around them.

A majority of people who frequent WallStreetBets are amateur traders. These people are looking to try their luck and hopefully make a big buck quickly and effortlessly. Their lack of expression and in-depth knowledge about the stock market leaves them vulnerable to the popular opinion of the page as a whole. 

This leads to a herd mentality.

And that’s the reason some professionals believe that WallStreetBets has the ability to influence the stock market. 

But what are the big guys doing here?

But it's not only the amateurs looking to pass time on WallStreetBets. 

Many professional traders have now made it a point to visit the page almost daily, trying to draw their own analysis basis the popular opinion and consumer sentiment.

Even hedge funds, who are used to going over every minuscule detail of financial reports are now keeping an eye on WallStreetBets, just to gain an edge. 

As a group with a somewhat united thought process and herd mentality, WallStreetBets has quickly become a force to be reconnected with. While it offers opportunity and promises education to anyone new to the stock market, it's soon becoming a troublesome issue for all the trading professionals out there. 

Consumer sentiment has never changed so quickly before or influenced the market so strongly at that. 

Professionals are now keeping a keen eye on the various discussions happening on the forum in real-time. And it's not only Reddit, but various social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are also now playing a more central role in the finance market. 

As a stock professional, it simply won’t be enough to tap into the traditional sources of income. One must also look at alternate forms of data and utilise its insights to their full potential. 

Watch how I scrape data from Reddit Wallstreetbets

 

 

Sentiment analysis and how it affects the stock market

While everyone knows that in the long run, it’s the valuation that drives stock prices, in the short term, its the market sentiment that can lead to a fluctuation in prices. This can create investment opportunities and even offers an attractive entry point to enter the market.

Sentiment analysis is one of the most effective methods of trading psychology. In fact, there is even empirical evidence to suggest that investor sentiment is one of the most reliable indicators of price movement. 

The aggregate of public opinion of a particular company or stock can influence the market heavily. The positive or negative feelings, moods, current company image, any current news floating in the market, upcoming launches, etc. can also change the way people view a certain company and affect its stock prices for a short duration. 

The short term market is driven by emotions, greed and fear specific. Amateur traders are often enticed by the idea of being able to make a quick and hence pounce upon the smallest opportunity. On the other hand, at the slightest unfavourable shift in the market, they look to sell their stock, fearing a loss. 

While these emotions aren’t rational, when a group of traders act together, it can cause a shift in the market. This also explains why the highs and lows are usually accompanied by extreme levels of positivity and negativity. The sentiment is highest just before major market tops, and lowest just before major market bottoms.

And that’s how WallStreetBets has become such a big influence. In fact, there are influences in that community who are making active use of this phenomenon and tip the scale in their favour.

Using sentiment analysis allows the traders to determine when the market is determined by emotion rather than rational decision making. They can pick up on these changes and make decisions for their own profit. 

And that’s where web scraping comes in. By regularly scraping pages like WallStreetBets SubReddit, you have an opportunity to stay up to date with the market sentiment in real-time. Acting on insights generated by web scraping can lead to huge growth in your business. 

If you are looking to enter the stock market, or you always are a pro, looking for a way to grow your business, our predefined WallStreetBets web scraper might be just what you need. 

With just the click of a button, you will have a plethora of data at your disposal, to make the most of. 

For any queries, thoughts or insider information, feel free to contact us at info@webautomation.io